After doing a couple of chapters in 4 days each, this last one took Jim 10 days to knock out.  I'm hoping that extra time needed to finish this last chapter indicates it was the final boss battle chapter; meaning the next chapter will be the book's denouement, the final chapter; or alternatively, it was the chapter that leads into the final boss battle, and that would mean there were only two chapters left for Jim to finish.

If there are only two chapters left, that could mean Jim is about 2 weeks; give or take a couple of days, from the finish line.  (He said with fingers crossed for luck.)

 

Wait, why is the host a factor in this? By far the easiest way for Fallen to end up in Demonreach is for Harry to chuck the next few coins he retrieves off of dead Denarians into the back of one of the tunnels. A live host is going to be putting up one hell of a fight, but scooping pocket change off a corpse is comparatively easy.

Wrap them in whatever blessed container it takes to prevent other Denarians summoning their comrades' coins back, leave a sign "Future Wardens: Do Not Touch", and basically forget about them. Whether they're meant to be in circulation or not, that's a free-willed mortal's choice to put them well beyond reach of anyone else.

Maybe, maybe not.  Remember way back in Death Masks when Harry wanted Bob to look for the Shroud of Turin and Bob said he couldn't go anywhere near it?  His exact words were, ""It doesn't exist on the same wavelength as me. It's out of my jurisdiction."  It's possible that Alfred might say; not the exact same words, but something similar. The island might be on a different wavelength or made to lock up living beings, not incorporeal spirits; even if those spirits are trapped within a coin. 

Another way to think about it is Alfred might have rules about who can be locked up on the island and who can't, and under what circumstances the island is allowed to lock up a supernatural entity.  For a variety of reasons the Denarians, or just the Fallen trapped in the coin, might not apply.  We know the island has a lot of dangerous supernatural prisoners, but we don't know how they earned their prison sentence.   

She might also have wanted to know it what was between Harry and Susan was true love, and kissing Thomas after she'd absorbed Susan's feelings about Harry via her memories was a convenient way to test it.

What?  Please explain because I'm not getting what you're trying to say.

I agree, that was an interesting article.  After reading that I think I have a better understanding why Jim is writing other, shorter series in between the Dresden Files.

By the way Jim is up to Chapter 48 as of March 7.  That is pretty fast work for the past week or so.

The updates have not been every chapter.

December 6 - Chapter 36
December 17 - Chapter 38
December 27 - Chapter 39
January 17 - Chapter 41
January 31 - Chapter 43
February 21 - Chapter 45

To which you can add chapter 46 as of 3/1 2019

So let's do some math.

December 6 - Chapter 36
December 17 - Chapter 38
11 Days - 2 chapters
December 17 - Chapter 38
December 27 - Chapter 39
10 days - 1 chapter However, I will subtract 1 day for Christmas
December 27 - Chapter 39
January 17 - Chapter 41
21 days - 2 chapters Again, I will subtract 1 day for New Year's Day
January 17 - Chapter 41
January 31 - Chapter 43
11 days - 2 chapters
January 31 - Chapter 43
February 21 - Chapter 45
21 days - 2 chapters
February 21 - Chapter 45
March 1 - Chapter 46
8 days - 1 chapter

So 11+10+21+11+21+8-2 =  80 Days estimated writing time (It doesn't matter if Jim's writing schedule is 5,6 or 7 days a week.  Assuming his schedule is steady; which I know is a huge assumption in late December, the total number of days are what matter.)

80/10 chapters = 8 days per chapter  Of course, the assumption here is each chapter is the same or very close to the same in word count.

So; in theory, it's just a question of how many chapters Jim has left to complete.  In reality, I don't know if the last chapter or three; the ones which contain the final boss battle(s), might take a day or two longer each, but I'll ignore that possibility for now.  If Peace Talks is 52 chapters long (I believe someone counted and said the last four of five books have been about 52 chapters each.), it should take 48 more days.  (6 chapters x 8 days per chapter)  If Peace Talks is 55 chapters long (I think Cold Days was 55 chapters long.  I know it had the highest word count.), then it will take 72 more days. (9 chapters x 8 days per chapter.)

Final assumption.  When we are given a chapter number, that means Jim has finished that chapter, not that he has started working on that chapter.  If the later is the case, I have to add 8 more days to my estimates, which I really don't want to do.

March 1 + 48 days = April 18
March 1 + 72 days = May 12

So now that I've done some simple math and made a rough estimate when we can expect Peace Talks to be finished, it will be interesting to see how close I get Jim gets to meeting my estimates.   If Peace Talks is finished within this time frame, I expect we will get it in time for Christmas.
 

In "Changes," Harry tells Mab he will become the Winter Knight if she heals him so he can rescue his daughter and "give me your word that you will never command me to lift my hand against those I love."  So I'm not talking about that caveat in their agreement.

I want to know if anyone on the forum who has read about the mythology of the fae knows of something, anything the fae aren't allowed to do to, or ask of mortals, even if it isn't specifically about Mab or any of the fae with names that might signify Mab.  I have this odd idea how Harry might get out of the Winter Knight gig.

When Harry agrees to be the Winter Knight Mab says to him, "Once you are my Knight, once this last quest of yours is complete, you are mine. You will destroy what I wish you to destroy. Kill whatsoever I wish you to kill. You will be mine, blood, bone, and breath. Do you understand this?"  That sounds awfully complete, but the term "blood, bone, and breath" sounds more like a term of art; Mab bragging about being Harry's new boss, rather than an actual terms that he must fulfill.  It seems to me the destroying and killing part are the crucial orders Harry has to carry out.  Plus, I find it more than just odd that Harry doesn't automatically get to learn Winter Law or have an easily obtainable source; like a book or tutor, to learn it from.  It's almost like Mab doesn't want Harry to know anymore about Winter Law than she needs him to know.

So I'm thinking, what if Mab really wants Harry to do something, but it's not something he's obligated to do as the Winter Knight.  If Harry thinks he has to do Mab's bidding, it doesn't matter, he does the job, Mab is happy and (if he survives) Harry remains the Winter Knight.  However, if Harry learns that Winter Law doesn't apply to this particular job, he could say, "I will do it as a favor Mab, if you ask me."  Then; if Mab is forced to ask Harry to do this task as a favor, I think Harry's old deal with Mab supersedes the current one.  As a reminder that deal goes like this; "From time to time, I will make a request of you. When you have fulfilled three requests, your obligation to me ceases."  I don't think there was anything said when Harry became the Winter Knight that nullifies that.   

I think many of us have had the thought that if Harry finds a way out of the Winter Knight job, Mab can still ask one more favor of him.  That not only seems logical, it's something we can all predict will happen.  If I'm right about why Harry doesn't have an easy way to learn Winter Law, then not only is the idea that Harry might be able to turn the tables on Mab a viable one, it's something Jim might want to do in order to subvert our expectations, but do so in a good way.  (Not like we have seen in a once uber popular, now crippled, maybe dying movie franchise that I will not name.)   

The Gatekeeper is able to track Harry in some fashion.

"What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you," he said.
"You've been watching?"
He shook his head. "Call it listening. But I have had glimpses of you. And matters are worsening in Chicago."

The Gatekeeper may not be tracking Harry directly.  We have so little information to work with.  For example, if I were to ask forum members to give an explanation of what the Gatekeeper meant when he said, "Call it listening," I bet every response would be unique, and we wouldn't have a way to confirm any of them. (So please don't try unless you can quote something directly from one of the novels to back you up.) To get back to my main point, whatever the Gatekeeper may be perceiving, it's possible Rashid is looking for black magic, or to steal a Star Wars term; "a disturbance in the Force," or Mab might call it, "A disturbance in the balance of forces," and Harry is often at or near the center of those disturbances, so that could be how the Gatekeeper gets glimpses of, and eventually finds Harry.

Only in Turn Coat, after Harry called the White Council and told them he had Morgan, can we safely assume the Gatekeeper was directly looking for Harry.  Even then, we don't really know if Rashid saw where Harry was, or if he saw, heard or felt something that told him to go to Demonreach without knowing; I mean having having 100% knowledge, that Harry was there.  It could have been, the Gatekeeper's search only revealed to him that he had to get to the dock on Demonreach to learn the truth.  He could have easily guessed that Harry would be there, but that's not the same thing as being certain that Harry would be there.

Unless the Gatekeeper gives us a more detailed explanation of how he gets these perceptions; which seems really unlikely, or Harry gets to use the Outer Gates material himself to do some kind of magic search; which could happen in a future story, we don't have a solid explanation of what the Gatekeeper does or what he's looking for.  By the way, I'm fine if we never do.  Not everything in the Dresden Files requires a detailed explanation.

I've never seen it! Where is it available?

I found my DIVX copy of the Storm Front pilot using Bit Torrent, but that was about five or six years ago.  If you can't find it, message me with your email address and I'll send you a copy.